Bulletins should reflect the topics that users are interested in, not the source of the data.

For example, it is more meaningful to tell users about the latest data on “migration” than the “International Passenger Survey”.

A bulletin can be one short page covering multiple topics, or – where there is clear user need, supported by research and/or analytics – split into multiple pages focusing on individual topics.

Consider the length of your bulletin, too. On average, users spend about four minutes looking at a bulletin. That’s long enough to read around 900 words.

We do not expect most users to read every word on every page, but if you are publishing significantly more than this, consider whether you could split your content.

Where a release contains more than one page, some users may still want to read overarching analysis. For example, there are a number of topic bulletins released that report labour market data, but research showed that users still needed a Labour market overview.

If you are unsure whether to use a single bulletin, or multiple bulletins split by topic, contact the content design team at content.design@ons.gov.uk for assistance. We can also help you identify your topics.

Users expect consistency between releases, so it is best to only create new bulletins on topics that you expect to cover regularly.

If there is not enough to say for a full bulletin, or limited user engagement, consider streamlining your content. See our guidance for headline releases and data-only releases.

If you have something to report on a one-off basis, consider publishing an article.

We are constantly improving based on research and best practice. Any significant changes to our guidance are available on the Updates page.

Next section: Bulletin structure